Filling Shoes
by Hearts of the Innocent
Summary: Solomon was anything but a simple man. And though the matters of his heart were strangely simple, the circumstances were dangerously complicated. Eventual Solomon/Saya.
1. Prologue

This is my first fanfic venturing out of the FMA world and will probably be my only piece in this section. Originally I am a Hagi/Saya fan but since there are so many writings supporting the couple, I decided to tip the favor in Solomon's direction. Also _Hagi fans be warned._ I cannot oddly place him in the background of a story (like many fics do) when he is _not_ a background character. Hagi and Saya's history is too great to push it aside.

So…yeah, I'm protected by the government.

Takes place after Episode 40 and before Episode 43

* * *

_Summery:_ Solomon was anything but a simple man. And though the matters of his heart were strangely simple, the circumstances were dangerously complicated. Eventual Solomon/Saya.

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FILLING SHOES

Prologue

_Reigning Truths_

* * *

"_Things are changing_

_It seems strange that I need to figure this out,_

_You've got your life, I've got mine,_

_But you're all I cared about,_

_Yesterday we were laughing, _

_Today I'm left here asking,_

_Where has all the time gone now?_

_I'm left alone somehow…_

_Don't say goodbye"_

_-Skillet_

* * *

The air was dark and oppressing as Saya stumbled her way through the murky alleyways of New York. Though it was not easily seen, as wounds of the heart are often hidden, the permanent absence of her dear Chevalier weighed upon her as heavy as any physical blow. It felt as if a part of herself had been ruthlessly ripped away, leaving the edges of her jagged and frail.

He was gone.

Hagi was _truly _gone.

She fell to her knees, the sword shifting awkwardly at her side as it clattered beside her to the brick. This past year in their relentless search for Diva had all been in vain simply because she had lost _him._ She suddenly wished she had treated him a little better instead of letting their mission consume her so fully. And despite it all he had followed her and had helped her unconditionally.

"_No matter what happens, I want you to live on, Saya."_

Her very reason for existence just seemed so hollow now for she had lost the support behind her drive, had lost the dam that had kept the waves of insanity at bay. She had lost sight of her lighthouse and was being tossed about in the violent storm. Now she was stranded. Vengeance stronger than any she had ever felt welled up inside of her. Yet at the same time her fingers spanned along the bumpy road, supporting her hunched form as her shoulders began to shake with sobs.

"Forgive me, _Hagi…_"

The skies wept their own bitter tears along side with the Queen just as its great grumble showed its own grief. In the midst of all of this, a pair of warm, strong arms enveloped her person; a shelter from the rain; a cleft in the rock, and for the briefest of moments she allowed herself to believe Hagi had not died by Diva's hand and that he was there with her, holding her tightly within his protective embrace.

Then he spoke and the woven spell was shattered.

"I'm sorry, Saya."

Reflexively the young Queen tensed and her fingers curled about the hilt of her katana.

"Why are you here?" Her voice was a monotone whisper but no less fierce. How dare he come to her at _this_ moment, and after what happened.

Solomon pulled away, sensing the abrupt shift in the enemy of his former Queen. Saya did not look at him for her head hung below the set of her shoulders, and still the hairs on the back of his neck rose in warning."

"I am here because you are hurting."

A small, nearly insane laugh bubbled from her lips as a wave of grief overwhelmed her.

"Do you know why I'm hurting?" she snapped.

"Yes I do." The fair skinned chevalier answered her quietly. "I had no ill feelings toward him as your Chevalier; he protected you with his life, as was in his nature. _His_ death is the cause of your grief; of course I care."

"This won't stop me, Solomon," she glare up at him; a wild look now present in her mahogany gaze, "I _will _kill Diva. You cannot stop me."

The silence was overwhelming as nothing but the pounding of rain and the rolling of thunder could be heard. Solomon allowed his hand to fall to her cheek where he gently tilted her face up from where it had fallen, forcing her to look at him once more. The way she stared up at him was as if something had died behind those crimson orbs. His gut clenched.

"I'm not going to stop you," he said, "I'm going to help you. No longer am I Diva's Chevalier as I renounced that status before the attack. I am yours to command now."

There was such a blank expression in her countenance that his heart ached. Silently, Saya began to tremble as the seeping chill began to settle in her bones and in her heart.

"Here." He removed his now black jacket to drape it across her shoulders. Then in a bold movement, he lifted her up into his arms and began the journey towards home. During the duration of the travel, Saya's hands fisted themselves in the folds of his shirt as she looked at him with fevered eyes.

"Why?" She whispered and he had stopped in mid stride to look down at her; undeterred that she had began to drift once more into slumber.

His voice was most solemn as he answered.

"_Because I am in love with you."_

* * *

_Remember that because Hagi has died Saya's personality will not have the same outcome as it did in the series. **Spoiler Warning:** And even though she thought Hagi had perished by Amshel's claws and was able to semi-move on with her life, Hagi's absence has taken place in a more critical time before the final battle between Diva could be fought and before Saya could resolve the issue to live. Hence Solomon's presence…_

_Eh, whatever. I'll be sure to elaborate as the story goes on. Please tell me what you think of this piece._

_:HOTI:_

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	2. Twisted Realities

Thanks for the positive response, guys

Thanks for the positive response, guys! The first official chapter of _Filling Shoes_ is for those who reviewed.

* * *

Chapter One

_Twisted Realities _

* * *

"_Drink up, baby doll,_

_Are you in or are you out?_

_Leave your things behind,_

_Because it's all going off without you,_

_Excuse me; too busy writing your tragedy…_

_When you know I do want your love,_

_So let go…"_

* * *

Saya awoke in a red haze. The piercing, beastly cries of Chiropterans were suddenly all raised in a gruesome quire behind _her _voice, echoing inside her. The young Queen stirred, a burning anger and madness welling up inside her breasts.

"Stop." Her furious whisper was nearly inaudible and she shifted beneath the strange mounds of covers to tuck her legs tightly into her and clasp her hands roughly over her ears.

"_Stop it."_

The vehemence behind her voice lashed through the room and the singing in her mind instantly ceased. All became strangely silent. With silence came memories, came thoughts…

'_Saya, why do you cry?'_

Breath hitching, she pushed aside the covers only to find the apparition, real or just apart of her minds eye, of Hagi standing ever so faithfully by the window, looking down at her.

"Because you're not here," she answered him.

Her Chevalier took two slow steps toward her and made as if to wipe away her tears but the warmth of his altered hand never made it to her face.

'_But you are.'_

And with the blink of her eye he was gone. She was alone.

"_Hagi…"_ She wept.

* * *

From the outside of her door, Solomon clenched his fist above the folds of his ebony suit. Despite of how insensitive or callous it might have been, the satisfaction that rose up within him could not be quelled. The main hindrance in convincing his beloved that he was truly hers was gone. His sacrifices had not been in vain.

Soon Saya would be his.

* * *

Kai held the newly fashioned chain in front of his face, studying it closely. A miniature cello hung as its talisman, a glittering, blood-red stone beneath its makeshift strings. He tucked it safely in the pocket of his shirt.

"I can't believe he's gone."

"What's done is done," came David's ever blunt reply. "We must keep our focus solely on eliminating Diva."

Though David did not look at him, Kai knew him well enough after a year of travel that David was a man of few words, and that it wasn't that he didn't care about Hagi, it was just that the older man wouldn't allow himself to convey so much feeling.

But it was David who found the time to make the necklace for Saya. He did care. And he surprised Kai by saying more:

"You must find Saya and give that to her, Kai."

"I know."

"She needs all the extra help now."

Kai leaned back against the leather seat of the car, closing his eyes against the morning sun in all its brightness.

'_Where are you, Saya!'_

* * *

Saya found herself staring absently out the window of a fifty-story (at least) skyscraper and out into the unfamiliar, chaotic streets of New York when the soft knock to her door caused her shoulders to tense. She was correct not to answer it when the door slowly slid open anyway. In the window's reflection she saw Solomon. Her eyes narrowed.

"You're awake," he said with a lazy, seemingly innocent smile; a cup of warm tea in his hand. "The color has returned to your face."

"Why am I here?" She went straight to the point and turned to face him.

Solomon's smile dimmed. "I brought you here because you were fevered and wounded. You've slept for nearly two days, Saya, I was beginning to get worried."

She looked at him with burning scarlet eyes, calculating the truth in his words and the sincerity in his crystal-like gaze. Saya's hand fisted at her side… her sword, she needed her sword. Without it she felt vulnerable, useless, and was reminded of the precious time slipping away like the sand in an hourglass. She had to leave. Diva was a step ahead of her. She gestured to her robe.

"Where are my clothes?"

"I'm afraid they needed to be burned," he said, "The blood could not be removed. I've laid aside a new pair for you-"

"Fine. Give them to me. I'm needed by the Red Shield and my bother. I'm the only one who can save us now."

A frown flickered across the brow of the enemy Chevalier. He stepped closer. "Don't you want to quit fighting, Saya? We could travel the world together in peace. _I_ could take care of you and you would never have to hold your sword again."

Her eyes flickered into that deadly crimson and she glared upon him with such fierceness that he was momentarily taken aback. Saya had changed. He didn't know if it was for the better but his love for his new Queen remained unchanged.

"That was _our_ dream. I won't let you take that away from him."

A fruitless rebuttal when Hagi was dead. Solomon cursed the former Chevalier, for even beyond the grave his fingerprints had been left on everything. So after a lingering silence he spoke:

"Saya, do you remember any of what I said when I found you?"

"Of course I do," she snapped; teeth gnashing audibly. "But your word means nothing to me—"

"If it so be in your desire to fight and kill Diva, I will help you. I will not let you fight alone. I told you I renounced my title as Diva's Chevalier to become yours. I do not go back on my word. If you so command me to kill my former Queen, then I shall."

The anger leaked from her countenance and obsidian brows furrowed. "Why? I don't understand."

He smiled. "Because I'm in love with you," he said for the second time without hesitation. "And being with you allows me to become Solomon Goldsmith once again; a man that I thought had been forever lost."

Solomon didn't know what to make from the expression on his beloved's face, but he kept the hope that stirred inside him hidden from her searching gaze. Saya turned back to the window, crossing her arms against her chest.

"I accept your offer," she said, tersley. "Now take me to my sword."

* * *

Relief swept through him when he saw Saya come into their apartment. But the feeling was quickly iced by the sight of the notorious Solomon Goldsmith by her side; the mask of indifference firmly planted on his handsome features. A new rage welled up inside Kai and he took a threatening step forward.

"Saya—"

She held up her hand for him to stop but he was silenced by the new emptiness reflected in her mahogany gaze.

"Solomon is here to help us," she said, matter-of-factly. "Do you have my sword?"

"Yes," he looked at her strangely.

"Then tonight we rest. Tomorrow my sister dies."

Both Solomon and Kai watched Saya head up the stairs of their apartment, neither saying a word to the other. When Kai finally turned his direction to the enemy Chevalier to question his antics when he was so quick to defy his own blood Queen, he found that Solomon had already disappeared. Damn, he acted more like a ghost than Hagi ever did. And Kai's desire for Saya's former Chevalier had never been more felt. He wondered how the others were to react to Saya's decision.

Still, Solomon's presence so near to his sister made Kai uneasy.

* * *

When Saya reached her room she immediately shut the door behind her. She needed to be alone and she hoped Solomon was wise enough to sense that. She was tired of wearing the brave façade for her brother and for David and the others. She needed time, if only just a moment, to be _her._ And in her alone time she could surrender to the weakness and the sleepy haze that was eating at her strength. Tonight she had told her brother that Diva would die tomorrow, and she would. She would not leave this world without completing her mission. But soon after, Saya would make sure that she would follow her sister. Hagi wasn't there to complete the Promise but Saya would complete it herself. She remained steadfast in her decision made so many years ago.

Her sword lay bundled loosely on her bed and she picked it up with a new fondness. She would never allow it to leave her side now. By the sword was how she lived and by the sword was how she planned to die. No one would stop her.

But that lingering voice in the back of her head continued to whisper, _Kai, what about Kai, your brother. Live Saya, I want you to live. Nakurnaisa, live for the tomorrow._

A glint off the hilt of her sword caught her attention and she became fixated on a delicate chain wrapped around it. Gently, she lifted it high to where it caught the moonlight and her breath caught in her throat. A tiny cello dangled from the end and in its center a crimson, jewel-like stone sat. She caressed it lovingly before placing it around her neck, close to her heart.

Now she could carry Hagi around the same way she carried Dad around.

Was the Tomorrow really worth living for? Saya no longer knew.

* * *

_Before You Ask:_

_If Saya seems slightly darker at this point then good. That's what I've been trying portray. Because, if you stop and think about it, how different would Saya be if Hagi really had died? (I know, bad thoughts!) But let's face it; the Saya that came out at the end of the series would be warped. _

_And for you Saya/Solomon fans, please be patient. I always hated how other fics rush their relationship and bypass everything that Saya and Hagi had fought for. Staying true to Saya's character, she wouldn't do that. And I'm afraid Hagi's presence wouldn't just disappear. _

_Let me know your thoughts!_


	3. Bond of Queens and Chevaliers

A/N: Be aware of the teen rating.

* * *

Chapter Two

_Bond of Queens and Chevaliers_

* * *

"_Can't break me down,_

_Bury me! Bury me!_

_I am finished with you,_

_Look at my eyes,_

_You're killing me, killing me,_

_All I wanted was you…_

_What if I wanted to break?"_

_

* * *

_They were mirror faces of pain, reflections of surprise, and both a portrait of finality. This was the moment that they all had waited for. Saya and Hagi had fought for several lifetimes to see this day come to pass, just as David had fought the entirety of his feeble existence to make his world a safer place. Kai had fought for the revenge of their father and brother. And Saya had battled as a way of atonement for releasing the horrible scourge that was her sister. But after centuries of battles and wars and blood, Saya discovered that Diva only wanted what Saya had; a family, people who _loved_ her.

But the knowledge had not stopped their blades, each dripping with the poison of their blood, from plunging deep into the other. This was the moment of truth.

In the silence of the theater, the crude sounds of the cracking of flesh filled the hum of the air as the toxic blood took effect. Saya was afraid to look down at her own abdomen, knowing full well that she too must be crystallizing just as Diva was before her.

'_Good,'_ she thought with an odd sense of contentment filling her. _'Now I can follow through with the Promise. My kind…the abominations will never again walk the earth.'_

But a feeling of wrongness filled her when she watched the stony veil of death pass over her sister's sharp face. Why hadn't she crystallized yet? With a cry of effort she yanked Diva's blade from her stomach and removed her own precious sword from the remains of the enemy Queen. Saya didn't dare to look into the faces of her audience, not wanting to hear their exhaled breaths of relief. She was thankful that blood covered her face for it hid the tears. Slowly, unsurely, her hands roamed over her wound, feeling as the skin stitch itself back together.

Why did she live?

The wailing chorus of Chiropterans filled the background.

* * *

"I never believed you would go this far, Solomon; betraying the one who gave you _life."_

"I told you of my decision to serve Saya, big brother. I am not so easily swayed."

Amshel caught Solomon's feinting blade with his hand even as he stopped the other transformed weapon from piercing his belly with his left.

"Are you so sure?" Amshel sneered. "Diva was your mother, blood of your blood, if you will, and you betrayed that precious bond. You're feeble connection with Saya will be easily broken."

The elder Chevalier's knee slammed into Solomon's gut and he was forced into the stage scaffolding where it crumbled all around him and atop of him. His big brother had the gumption to laugh.

"See, little brother? You've been reduced to a weak replacement, one who can't even fill the shoes of the former properly!"

The rubble shifted at the blond's return to his feet. With eyes glowing brightly, Amshel was certain he had struck the right cord with his former blood-brother. Solomon was loosing his precious mask of indifference and his anger was beginning to show. He could never fight as good when he was angry, no one ever did. Fury and anger may have given him power, but it clouded his judgment.

"I am here," Saya's Chevalier said lowly, roughly, "to serve Saya. My love for her has overcome my devotion to Diva. I will stay with her, protect her, die for her as she so wishes. I will _kill you."_

Amshel smiled and readied himself, but a scant second later the chorus of mourning, guttural howls sounded and his eyes widened and his defense was weakened by the diversion. Amshel hesitated but Solomon did not.

"No, _Diva_…" was the last thing he uttered before Solomon's shifted hands crossed each other, Amshel's head aligned in its center.

He didn't even flinch with he heard the sickening crack of his big brother's spin as his blade cut through it. Amshel's head rolled several feet away.

He had once considered attempting the method on Hagi, back when Saya was his enemy, but he had never dreamt he'd be doing it to his own blood. But his loyalty was to Saya, now, and there was no other way to affirm his death.

Walking over to Amshel's listless body, he forced his blade—his very hand into his brother's chest and began to carve out his heart.

* * *

"Saya, you're talking nonsense and you know it!"

Weary, for the first time in many years, Solomon walked forward at the reprimand of Saya's human brother. His crystal eyes shifted to Saya, bloodied and haggard, her sword positioned between here knees as she held onto it for support. The blade was just inches away from Diva's twins at Saya's feet.

"It must be done, Kai." She said quietly, but behind a mask of vehemence. "Shortly after I resolved to kill Diva, I asked Hagi to take my own life as well. We're not human, Kai. We're not supposed to be here."

Kai looked down at his sister, shocked at her words and affronted by her secrecy. He became angry.

"Do you honestly want to die, Saya? Do you really believe it for one second Hagi would willingly have taken your life if you so commanded him? You were his friend, the one he—" He broke off with a glance at Solomon. "Hagi wanted you to _live_. I heard his words at the fair but I didn't understand them until now."

Saya's person remained still, her breathing so shallow that both males feared she'd collapse.

"I want to live, Kai, but you've seen what I am—what I can do." He strained to hear her muffled voice. "I wasn't meant for this world. It was always my deepest wish that I could live with you, dad, Riku, Hagi, and all in Okinawa, but it's a dream…"

"No it's not! Can't you see, Saya? You are not your sister. You are free to govern your own actions and to make your own choices. You remember all the things dad taught us, how can you even think about going wrong?" A soft smile formed his hardened features. "And if we raise the twins like dad raised us then how can we fail?"

His new Queen still held stubbornly to her sword but her demeanor had finally split and her shoulders shook with the silent sobs of defeat.

This image saddened Solomon greatly and he did not understand it. Sadness, like love, was slowly awakening the longer he remained in Saya's presence and the Chevalier felt the next warm breeze of the man he once was blow against him. Like all things, he must accept the bad that must come with the good of becoming Solomon Goldsmith once more. He had not felt sadness or remorse in a very long time. Saya's humanness was awakening the man in him, and he discovered in that moment that it was her intricate ability to feel _all_ and to make him feel that made him love her so.

"Saya," Solomon spoke for the first time, interrupting the family interlude. "While I did not care for Hagi, we were alike in many ways," he said, kneeling before her. "The most significant one being our love for you. It is because of this I am able to say with utter certainty that he would have wanted you to live. _I _want you to live." He watched through a hooded gaze as her hand drew near the chain at her throat.

Still silent, the two males watched Saya's eyes widen impeccably then fill with tears; an inner epiphany, they assumed, that no one else could have comprehended in that critical moment of her agony. She then surprised Solomon, a feat rarely accomplished, when she placed her hand on the side of his face and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you, Solomon."

Time stood still for him. Never before had Saya been the one to initiate contact, and her hand upon his cheek was so warm.

"And thank you, Kai." She turned from him too soon and the warmth left his face as quickly as it had come. Disappointment flooded him.

From the overhanging balcony above, David's strung voice yelled to them below. "There planning to bomb the building! We need to get out of here _now!_"

* * *

It had been nearly two weeks since the near impossible feat had been accomplished, and Saya ran through her days in a sort of numbed haze. She had slipped back into the habitual school days without the least bit of notice, save from Kaori, but Saya couldn't quell the feeling of emptiness.

She was alive… the concept seemed so surreal.

Shortly after they had returned home from the Met, Solomon left with the words that he had some loose ends to tie up. He would not elaborate so she did not press him. He left with a kiss to her hand and the promise that he would return. Though she was not consciously looking for his returning, her thoughts frequently wandered to his reasons for leaving, but Saya relished the alone time. She needed to find herself again.

"Are you alright, Saya?"

Her eyes shifted from the window overlooking the busy street of Okinawa to her brother who dried the glasses with her Dad's old dishtowel in practiced speed.

"I'm okay."

Kai set down the glass to lean over the counter. "I can tell when you're lying to me, Saya."

"Kai, I'm fine!" She plastered a smile on her face.

"Saya…"

"Just thinking, is all. My thoughts aren't as light as they once were."

Kai froze at her words. Saya had never mentioned her past so casually in a conversation with him, then again there was nothing casual about it. A single memory of Saya's was the equivalent of a human lifetime. So instead he looked down, the question he had been plaguing him ever since the night at the Met on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to ask her but feared her reaction. His hand clenched.

"Saya…" he began again, "that night at the Met why did you agree with Solomon so quickly? I mean, why did you agree to live when he spoke to you?"

Her eyes crinkled with an old anguish. "Kai…"

"Please."

She hesitated. "It wasn't Solomon's words that decided my decision. He said he knew what Hagi felt… and that he knew he wouldn't have wanted me to die. It felt almost as if someone was pulling my hand up to the chain you and David gave me and when I touched it I was able to hear him as if he stood by me, holding me."

"And what did he say?" his voice was thick.

Saya gave a small smile. "'Nankurunaisa, Saya. I want you to live, and… I love you."

It was as if a silent intuitive struck and both Saya and Kai glanced at the window. Solomon, ever dressed in prim attire, came strolling down the busy street of Okinawa, a serene smile upon his face and the sun at his back.

* * *

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